CME, London Stock Exchange Form Blockchain Settlement Group

A group of banks, exchanges and clearing houses has formed a working body to discuss how blockchain technology might be used to settle transactions.

Three meetings have taken place in the past few months between the CME Group, Euroclear, LCH.Clearnet, London Stock Exchange, Société Générale and UBS, according to a report from Financial News that cited sources with knowledge of the discussions. CME Group confirmed its participation to CoinDesk, but declined to comment further. Other alleged participants did not offer comment as of press time.

The group is said to be operating under the moniker "Post Trade Distributed Ledger Working Group", and according to the report, the discussions are focused on "post-trade operations". A steering committee has also been appointed by the group to guide the process further.

A spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange told Financial News that it believes collaboration and strategic partnerships will best allow incumbent financial institutions to unlock the benefits of distributed ledgers.

"Our view is the technology needs to be developed in a considered and rigorous manner, in partnership with clients, to provide the right service and benefit to them,” the spokesman continued, later saying that the London Stock Exchange "has significant technical expertise to bring to the discussion".

Representatives for Euroclear and Société Générale were not immediately available for more information. The London Stock Exchange and UBS did not respond to requests for comment.